The present invention relates to air pressure loss detection in one or more tires of a vehicle.
During the operation of a vehicle, significant loss of pressure in one or more tires may cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle or a tire failure. Moreover, event slight pressure losses in a tire can result in reduced service life for that tire. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to inform the driver that one or more tires are losing pressure, especially before hazardous conditions are reached.
Certain systems measure the pressure of each tire directly and relay this information to the driver. Other systems measure changes in the effective rolling diameter of the tires caused by losses in pressure or its response to road induced vibration. Yet in other systems the rotational velocities of the tires are measured under certain operating situations to identify conditions of the tires. For instance, loss of air in a tire may cause an increase in rotational resistance of the tire, and hence a perceptible change in the tire rotational velocity.